The first Battlefield 3 expansion, Back To Karkand, has been released on the PlayStation 3, and some members of the GameStop Power-Up service have received a mini strategy guide for Back To Karkand, which includes map overviews of all four maps, and for all versions of the maps.

It looks like Strike At Karkand will be more limited than in Battlefield 2, and will only have 5 capture points in its largest version. Wake Island will have 5 flags as well, while Sharqi Peninsula and Gulf of Oman on the other hand, will support 7 flags in 64 player mode. Full map overviews below.

German game site PC Games got their hands on some beautiful, high-res panorama images of Battlefield 3 maps. The images are composed of several screenshots to give a unique, panoramic perspective on the maps. There’s one panorama image for each of Battlefield 3′s 9 multiplayer maps. You can check out the images below, and make sure to view them in full resolution.

There was initially some confusion of how Back To Karkand would be played on servers, whether it would be part of the same rotation as regular maps, or perhaps as Bad Company 2 Vietnam. EA has now clarified the issue via Twitter, stating that Back To Karkand will be integrated into regular Battlefield 3, and will be part of the same map rotation. In other words, there’s no need to play on separate servers just for Back To Karkand.

Back to Karkand will be released next month and will include 10 new weapons, 4 new maps and 3 new vehicles, plus a new game mode called Conquest Assault.

The first Battlefield 3 expansion/DLC, called Back to Karkand, will offer 4 maps that have been remade for Battlefield 3. The maps won’t be recreated block for block, but will bring some changes and updates with them.

A new competition from DICE gives players the chance to name a control point in the new version of Gulf of Oman, one of the most popular Battlefield 2 maps. DICE’s new design philosophy is that the new Gulf Of Oman is set “a few years later in time than the original battles”. For a comparison, they’ve released the above screenshots, showing Gulf of Oman’s “beach” capture point in Battlefield 2, and its remake in Battlefield 3. You can check out the competition here.

To all BF2 fans out there, what do you think of Gulf of Oman’s new look?

DICE has released a brand new Battlefield 3 multiplayer trailer, showcasing the new maps that were unveiled last week, including Damavand Peak, Tehran Highway, Operation Firestorm, among others. Finally, we also get a glimpse of Back to Karkand maps at the very end. Suffice to say, this is the multiplayer trailer we’ve been waiting for, and is easily one of our favorites. Let us know what you think of the latest trailer in the comments. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for lots of Battlefield 3 videos.

DICE released a new screenshots showing Damavand Peak (you know, the map where you start off with a 500m base jump?), and it already looks like one of the most interesting Battlefield 3 maps we’ve seen so far. Damavand Peak was featured in an early trailer, and was revealed a few days ago, where especially the Rush version of the map sounds interesting: the attackers start either by flying a Little Bird chopper down to the first objective, or by simply jumping 500m down there. We’ve got another Damavand Peak screenshot after the break. READ ON »

Nvidia is currently sponsoring a huge LAN event where Battlefield 3 takes the center stage and is playable by the hundreds of people attending the event. There have been a few key note speeches there, made by Nvidia and DICE, and one stood out: the key note where we see a few minutes of gameplay footage from the new map Operation Firestorm. Check out the video above — Operation Firestorm gameplay starts at 6:45 into the video. We’ve also gotten a batch of screenshots from the new map and gameplay, which you can find after the break. READ ON »

Yesterday we posted a list of the last five Battlefield 3 maps, sadly however, the screenshots DICE released at the time were rather low-res. Now DICE has released the screenshots in high resolution format, which give us a much better view of the new maps — Kharg Island, Noshahr Canals and Seine Crossing. We particularly like the looks and details of Kharg Island.

DICE has posted another entry on their Battleblog, revealing the 5 remaining Battlefield 3 multiplayer maps. The maps are:

Nosharh Canals: a map based around an industrial harbor, with both infantry and vehicle warfare, including boats, tanks and APCs. In the Rush mode, attackers start at an aircraft carrier and make their way inland on boats and amphibious vehicles.

Seine Crossing: the map is set in Paris and is split up into two parts by the river Seine, and will include areas for both vehicle combat and denser places that’s more geared towards infantry combat.

Kharg Island: based on a real world island, this time, attackers assault the island via boats and amphibious vehicles, where the defending team controls all flags on the island.

DICE posted a new entry on their Battlelog, where they revealed three new Battlefield 3 maps. We’ve known them by name — Operation Firestorm, Tehran Highway and Damavand Peak — and now we’ve got some screenshots of the maps, which you can find below. DICE also gives a brief description on each map:

Tehran Highway: a nighttime map where players start off in the hills out side of the city and work their way in. Sounds a lot like Strike At Karkand. The map starts open, but ends “on a much more urban and tight note” with focus on infantry combat.

Damavand Peak: was built around wanting to feature base jump in the game, and has the biggest height difference in Battlefield 3. Attackers in Rush start 500M above the first objective and have to jump down.

Operation Firestorm: is one of the largest maps in Battlefield 3, and is a wide open desert map with lots of vehicles.